In a letter to Gov. Doug Ducey of Arizona, the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) presents a frequently updated table of studies that report results of treating COVID-19 with the anti-malaria drugs chloroquine (CQ) and hydroxychloroquine (HCQ, Plaquenil®).

To date, the total number of reported patients treated with HCQ, with or without zinc and the widely used antibiotic azithromycin, is 2,333, writes AAPS, in observational data from China, France, South Korea, Algeria, and the U.S. Of these, 2,137 or 91.6 percent improved clinically. There were 63 deaths, all but 11 in a single retrospective report from the Veterans Administration where the patients were severely ill.

The antiviral properties of these drugs have been studied since 2003. Particularly when combined with zinc, they hinder viral entry into cells and inhibit replication. They may also prevent overreaction by the immune system, which causes the cytokine storm responsible for much of the damage in severe cases, explains AAPS. HCQ is often very helpful in treating autoimmune diseases such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.

In 2006, Canadian psychologist Bob Altemeyer wrote a book called 'The Authoritarians' detailing his research on the subset of the population that seem to thrive on following orders. They have a high degree of submission to established and legitimate societal authorities, display high levels of aggression in the name of these authorities, and a high level of conventionalism.

With the recent lockdown, it would seem the whole world is getting a lesson in authoritarianism, and the authoritarian followers are all out in force. Snitching on neighbors, calling the police for any slight disgression against stay at home orders, screeching, both on social media and in person at anyone not staying at home, (whether they have a good reason or not) and actually demanding the lockdown stay in place, despite the harm it's doing. It seems these times were made for authoritarian followers, while the rest of us, independent thinkers as we are, suffer their wrath.

Join us on this episode of Objective:Health as we discuss the authoritarian follower. What is a thinking person to do in the face of this tyrrany?

Since the start of the Covid-19 crisis, a lot of talk has centered around the development of a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. Some countries, like New Zealand, have suggested that they won't open up their borders for international travel until a vaccine is available.

I would like to give a bit of background about a few things related to the coronavirus in general, about the development of a vaccine, and about the problems the development of such a vaccine might pose.

I am not going to talk about the problems associated with vaccination in general (although I might touch upon these in relation to the points mentioned above) - and there certainly are plenty of problems associated with vaccination, as it is commonly done today - but these have been discussed in detail elsewhere.

Circadian rhythms are moderated by two "clocks." The first clock is a "master clock" that responds to daily dark-light cycles, is regulated in the hypothalamus, and regulates various circadian processes in the rest of the body via neuronal and hormonal signals (1). The second clock responds to meal times, and in particular to regular patterns of feeding and fasting (2). This second clock can override the impact of the master clock on organs and tissues if mealtimes and the duration between meals are deliberately manipulated (3).

Disruptions to circadian rhythm have been linked to impaired glucose and lipid metabolism, cancer, the metabolic syndrome, and immune system dysfunction; restoration of circadian rhythm has been linked to the prevention of these same conditions (4). Studies in which mice have been fasted overnight (5) have triggered improvements in a variety of metabolic pathways (6). This April 2020 trial built upon this preliminary evidence by surveying the effect of fasting on a variety of proteins and other biomarkers in young, healthy adults.

The Texas State Board of Pharmacy issued a new rule that no prescriptions for hydroxychloroquine could be dispensed without a diagnosis, then changed their tune.

Dr. Ivette Lozano, who has been in medical practice for over 20 years, was shocked to learn in March that she would be required to share her patient's diagnosis with the pharmacist before prescriptions for hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin would be dispensed.

On March 20, the Texas State Board of Pharmacy issued a new rule that no prescriptions for hydroxychloroquine or azithromycin could be dispensed without a diagnosis "consistent with evidence for its use."

"Never before have we had to turn in a diagnosis with a prescription," Lozano told The Texan. Lozano has seen about five to six patients per week for coronavirus. "They see a dramatic improvement within six to eight hours," Lozano said.

Covid-19 could be "petering out by itself" before the world comes up with any vaccine, a leading academic, formerly the World Health Organization's (WHO) top oncologist has said. Karol Sikora, the dean of the University of Buckingham's medical school, wrote on Twitter:

"There's a real chance that the virus will burn out naturally before any vaccine is developed. We're seeing a roughly similar pattern everywhere - I suspect we have more immunity than estimated. We need to keep slowing the virus, but it could be petering out by itself."

The statement triggered quite a response, making Sikora later clarify that it was his personal opinion and he was positing a "feasible scenario" that might be possible in the current "unknown situation." The scientist went on to say that no one knows "what will happen for sure" and urged the public to stick to social distancing rules.

Countries and companies across the world have been racing to develop a vaccine against Covid-19, which has claimed more than 312,000 lives thus far, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Earlier this week, the WHO revealed that eight vaccine candidates are currently undergoing clinical trials, while another 110 candidates are now under pre-clinical evaluation.Nations including Britain and China have begun testing vaccines on humans.

Vaccine development is a topic that is on the minds of everyone as the world grapples with ways to protect our health and the health of our loved ones from coronavirus. The team at Children's Health Defense decided to write an article about Dengue Fever because an important part of medicine's body of knowledge comes from the opportunity to learn from past mistakes.

Dengue fever is a common disease in more that 120 countries and, like Coronavirus, has been the target for a vaccine for many years. The development and licensure of Dengvaxia® vaccine by Sanofi spanned more than 20 years and cost more than 1.5 billion U.S. dollars. But the development of the vaccine turned out to be tricky. Dengue vaccine antibodies can also make the infection worse, especially in infants and children who have never been exposed to the virus. The virus may actually use the antibodies created by the vaccine to spread the virus throughout the body. So an infection with dengue — when your blood already has antibodies in it — can actually enhance the disease resulting in deadly complications.

At Provident Behavioral Health in St. Louis, people who called the helpline at the beginning of the pandemic were fearful, even panicked.

"Nearly everyone expressed fear. Fear of catching the virus, fear of the future, fear of the unknown and fear of not knowing how to cope with their feelings," said Jessica Vance, who manages the Disaster Distress Helpline at Provident.

Now people's calls and texts, which have leveled off in the past couple of weeks, are more about their isolation and depression.

Nationwide, mental health call and text centers, the first lines of defense for many people feeling jittery during a crisis, offer an early picture of how Americans are coping with the coronavirus pandemic.

Many crisis centers are reporting 30% to 40% increases in the number of people seeking help. The helpline at Provident is experiencing a tenfold increase compared with this time last year, when no national disaster was occurring. So far, the nation's most heavily used helpline, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, has not seen a spike in call volume.

But mental health experts predict an avalanche of mental health needs as the pandemic progresses.

Comment: Perhaps a good antidote to depression is righteous anger. We fully expect to see that continue to escalate as more people become aware that the lockdown imposed by the ruling elites was completely unnecessary:

Two to three children are coming into one Long Island hospital daily with an inflammatory disease thought to be tied to COVID-19, health care officials said Monday.

Most of these young patients are so ill, they are immediately put into the intensive care unit at Cohen Children's Medical Center, said Dr. James Schneider, chief of pediatric critical care medicine at the center in New Hyde Park. He said more than 30 patients have been admitted with what is being called "pediatric multi-system inflammatory syndrome associated with COVID-19."

Hospitals across the state by Monday had reported 93 cases of the illness, which can cause inflamed muscles and breathing problems, state officials said.

Health experts believe the illness could be the body's overreaction to COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

Comment: One of the very notable things about COVID-19 is that children have been virtually unaffected by it, and yet governments have been able to get away with shutting down schools. This new fear may step things up a notch, even if it doesn't result in substantive harm.

Vitamin B3 forms have recently emerged as potent boosters of energy metabolism in rodents. These vitamins are precursors for NAD+, a molecular switch of metabolism between fasting and growth modes.

As fasting has been shown promote health and longevity in for example mice, a variety of "NAD boosters" are being developed. However, whether actual NAD+ deficiency exists in human disease, and whether NAD+ boosters could have curative effects in patients with degenerative diseases, has remained elusive.

In the current publication, a collaborative team of investigators led by academy professor Anu Suomalainen-Wartiovaara and academy research fellow Eija Pirinenreport lowered NAD+ levels in both blood and muscle of mitochondrial myopathy patients.

Comment: Niacin would seem to show positive effects for a number of other, sometimes related, conditions: